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Born in Manchester,[2] Tonge was signed as a youth player by manager Steve Bruce when he was released by Manchester United. He was in the Sheffield United first team reckoning by April 2001. He made his first senior start in the last game of the 2000–01 season, a 1–1 draw away at Bolton.[4] Tonge scored his first competitive goal for the Blades in October of the following season, netting the winner in a 1–0 home victory over Crewe.[5]

Good performances led to an England youth international call-up and by the end of 2003 interest from clubs such as Liverpool, especially after scoring two goals to help the Blades to a 2–1 win in the first leg of the semi-final of the League Cup against the Merseyside team.[6] In total Tonge went on to spend seven years at the Blades and made more than 300 appearances for the club during that time.

On 1 September 2008, Tonge signed for Premier League side Stoke City for a fee believed to be in region of £2 million, which could eventually rise to £2.5 million. He made his City debut against Everton on 14 September 2008.[7] Tonge failed to establish himself in the Stoke squad and only made a further nine appearances in the 2008–09 season. Following loan spells with Preston and Derby, Tonge returned to Stoke for pre-season, where he scored in games against Newcastle Town and Burnley. Due to his pre-season form, he finally made a league appearance for Stoke against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.

He was recalled from his loan spell at Preston on 31 December by manager Tony Pulis.[8] Tonge completed a full pre-season prior to the 2011–12 season, playing in all but one of Stoke's games and scoring in the 3–1 friendly win against Austrian side SV Thal.[9] On 18 August 2011, he made his first start of the season in Stoke's 1–0 Europa League play-off win against FC Thun, making his European debut in the process.[10] On 2 September, Tonge was left out of the Stoke 25-man Premier League and 23-man Europa League squads for the first half of the season, which meant he was only eligible to play in domestic cup and reserve games.[11] He scored for the Stoke Reserves in their 2–1 win over Nottingham Forest Reserves on 28 September.[12] Tonge was again left out of Stoke's 25-man squad for the 2012–13 season.[13]

After failing to fully settle at Stoke, Tonge left on 19 November 2009 when he signed a loan deal with Preston North End and made his debut on 23 November against Newcastle United.[14] Tonge later signed for Derby County on transfer deadline day on loan until end of the season. Tonge scored his first goal for Derby in a 2–0 win over Watford on 6 March 2010.[15] After struggling for first team appearances for Stoke, Tonge returned to one of his old clubs Preston North End on a months loan on 17 November 2010 along with fellow Stoke team-mate Danny Pugh.[16] This was extended until 16 January 2011.[17] He scored his first goal for Preston in a 1–1 draw with Cardiff on 4 December 2010.[18] On 24 January 2012, Tonge joined Championship side Barnsley on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.[19] He made his debut a week later, playing 66 minutes in the 3–2 league win against Derby County.[20]

On 13 September 2012, Tonge linked up with his former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock and joined Leeds United on loan until December 2012.[21] Tonge made his Leeds United debut on 15 September against Cardiff City partnering Rodolph Austin in central midfield.[22] Tonge scored his first goal for Leeds, when he scored the winner against Bristol City in a 3–2 victory on 29 September.[23] Tonge scored his second Leeds goal with a long range strike against Sheffield Wednesday in a 1–1 draw.[24] He continued his goal scoring form for Leeds against Southampton in a 3–0 League Cup win.[25] After his loan deal expired on 23 December 2012, Leeds manager Neil Warnock revealed he wanted to sign Tonge permanently, Tonge also revealed that he wanted to join Leeds on a permanent deal.[26][27] New Leeds director, Salem Patel also revealed Leeds were in negotiations to sign Tonge on a permanent deal in January.[28]

He joined Leeds on a permanent two and a half-year contract in January 2013.[29][30] Tonge made his second debut for Leeds on 12 January in Leeds' Yorkshire derby against Barnsley.[31]

On the deadline day of the January 2015 transfer window, 2 February, Tonge joined Millwall on loan until the end of the 2014-15 season. This loan would also take him to the end of his Leeds United contract.[32]